“But dost thou love life,” Ben Franklin wrote in “The Way to Wealth,” “then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of …”
Do I squander — what a delightful word! — time? Probably, but less now than I did 60 years ago, when watching television for a couple of hours wasn’t at all unusual, though I often stood up from the chair or sofa feeling a bit dizzy and disoriented. Old age makes time more precious, and this oldster is too grateful for yet another day to waste too many minutes.
The swift passage of days and months at my age means selectivity in the books I read, which in turn means other books pile up and will remain unread. These come from friends and family, or from individuals and publishers seeking a review. Recently, for example, an advance copy of Michael Anton’s 640-page “Studies in Machiavellian Political Philosophy” arrived unrequested in the mail. With apologies to the author, this one will be going to a daughter-in-law who is earning a Ph.D. in political science.